Brazil's president doesn't trust Covid-19 vaccine: "I won't get vaccinated"

Brazil's president doesn't trust Covid-19 vaccine: "I won't get vaccinated"

- Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro does not trust the new Covid-19 vaccine and is concerned about side effects

- He has said that he won't be taking the vaccine and has been accused of setting a poor example for the people of Brazil

- His critics have also said that he is "homicidally negligent" in his handling of the pandemic

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Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro does not trust Pfizer-NioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine due to concerns over side effects.

The far-right political leader has been sceptical of the virus from the beginning and called it "a little flu".

He has said that vaccine is available to anyone in the country when it is released but he won't take it.

Brazil's president doesn't trust Covid-19 vaccine: "I won't get vaccinated"
Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's president does not trust the Covid-19 vaccine. Photo credit: Photo by Andressa Anholete/Getty Images
Source: Getty Images

His said that the vaccine could turn you into a "crocodile" and Pfizer would not be responsible. He went on to list a number of hypothetical scenarios including women growing beards according to France24.

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He has been blasted for setting a poor example to the rest of the country according to News24 which is experiencing its second wave with over 1 000 daily deaths from the virus.

According to the Guardian Bolsonaro is being branded "homicidally negligent" over his handling of the pandemic.

Over 181 000 Brazilians have succumbed to the disease. Plans to roll out the vaccine have been criticised for being too slow.

Experts fear that these delays could cause thousands of deaths and accuse the government of not understanding the severity of the pandemic.

Earlier, Briefly.co.za reported that Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has confirmed that a new variant of Covid-19 has been identified in SA and is currently widely found.

However, it remains unclear at this point whether or not this strain is more severe than the original.

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This new variant has emerged as the dominant strain in SA and is making 'young and previously healthy people severely ill'.

In other news, the World Health Organization has cleared Santa as immune to Covid-19 and permitted to travel around the world. Briefly.co.za explores the latest updates on the Covid-19 pandemic in SA.

The pandemic won't stop Santa from travelling across the world and distributing his gifts as usual.

This is according to the World Health Organization who says it understands that children are concerned about how the crisis would affect Father Christmas.

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Stefan Mack avatar

Stefan Mack (Editor) Stefan Mack is an English and history teacher who has broadened his horizons with journalism. He enjoys experiencing the human condition through the world's media. Stefan keeps Briefly News' readers entertained during the weekend. He graduated from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2010 with a Bachelor of Education (BEd), majoring in History and English. Stefan has been writing for Briefly News for a number of years and has covered mainstream to human interest articles.

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